The Orphanage’s Juan Antonio Bayona to direct A Monster Calls

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Even though we'll be seeing two episodes of Showtime's "Penny Dreadful" directed by Juan Antonio Bayona (THE ORPHANAGE) this May, we still have even more from the director to look forward to as it was just announced that River Road Entertainment, Participant Media, Lionsgate International, and Focus Features have teamed to finance and distribute Apache’s production of his next film A MONSTER CALLS. The film is based on the award-winning children’s fantasy novel by Patrick Ness (the “Chaos Walking” trilogy).

"It is an incredible privilege to bring Patrick Ness' exceptional book to the screen and I couldn't have imagined better partners joining me in this endeavor. After 'The Orphanage' and 'The Impossible,' 'A Monster Calls' is the perfect final chapter in a trilogy centered on the extraordinary strength of the mother-child bond," said Bayona.

A MONSTER CALLS is a visually spectacular drama about a young boy who attempts to deal with his mother’s illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that deal with courage, loss and faith.

I'm not very familiar with the book but it sounds like it's going to leave plenty of room for Bayona to do some crazy shit with it—it actually sounds a lot like something that Guillermo del Toro would have a blast with. This should be a good one, folks!

The film will be produced by Belen Atienza (THE IMPOSSIBLE, PAN'S LABYRINTH, THE ORPHANAGE) and is slated for a fall 2016 release. A MONSTER CALLS will be distributed by Focus Features domestically, Universal Pictures International for its theatrical and home entertainment release in Spain and Lionsgate International throughout the rest of the world.